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Employment Rulings in the Fifth Circuit

The Fifth Circuit covers the federal courts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The rulings below come from the circuit's court of appeals and the federal trial courts within it.

Of the 1,704 published rulings we track here (19702026), the breakdowns below show how they were decided. They describe published opinions only — not the odds of any particular situation.

How These Rulings Ended

Of the 1,704 published rulings we track in the Fifth Circuit.

Defendant Win
726 (43%)
Dismissed
285 (17%)
Mixed Result
263 (15%)
Plaintiff Win
208 (12%)
Remanded
173 (10%)
Settlement
49 (3%)

What Happens at Each Stage

A workplace lawsuit moves through stages, and a ruling can end it at any of them. Here is where the 1,689 rulings we could classify by stage were decided.

Appeal
766 (45%)

A higher court reviewing an earlier decision. Many published opinions come from this stage, after a lot has already happened in the case.

Summary judgment
297 (18%)

A ruling where the judge decides the case — or part of it — without a trial, because one side argues the key facts are not in dispute. For workers, getting past this step is often the biggest hurdle.

Of the 297 summary-judgment rulings here, 188 ended the case in the employer’s favor and 108 let the worker’s claims continue; the rest resolved in other ways.

Motion to dismiss
505 (30%)

An early request — usually by the employer — to throw the case out before any evidence is gathered.

Trial verdict
40 (2%)

A judge or jury heard the evidence and reached a decision. Relatively few disputes get this far.

Settlement / consent decree
42 (2%)

The two sides resolved the dispute by agreement, sometimes with court approval. Most settlements are private and never show up in published opinions.

Default judgment
15 (1%)

A decision entered because one side did not respond to the case at all.

Other rulings
24 (1%)

Procedural decisions and orders that do not fit the main stages above.

States in This Circuit

Browse rulings from courts in each state the Fifth Circuit covers.

Recent Rulings in the Fifth Circuit

Rosales

Feb 1, 20075th CircuitDefendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. United States Postal Service

Jan 26, 20075th CircuitMixed Result

USPS

Jan 26, 20075th CircuitMixed Result

Dynasteel Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board

Jan 16, 20075th CircuitDefendant Win

Cortez

Jan 16, 2007N.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Adams

Jan 9, 20075th CircuitDefendant Win

Fournier

Dec 6, 2006W.D. Tex.Defendant Win

RLI Insurance v. Union Pacific Railroad

Dec 1, 2006S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

In re Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Nov 28, 20065th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Dada

Nov 28, 20065th CircuitDefendant Win

EEOC v. Agro Distr LLC

Nov 28, 20065th CircuitDefendant Win

BNSF Railway Co. v. United Transportation Union

Nov 3, 2006S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

LaBorde

Oct 13, 20065th CircuitDefendant Win

Crocker

Oct 2, 20065th CircuitRemanded

Crocker

Sep 29, 20065th CircuitRemanded

Crocker

Sep 29, 20065th CircuitRemanded

Eliserio

Sep 26, 2006S.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Price

Sep 20, 2006E.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Erica, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

Sep 19, 20065th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Sep 15, 20065th CircuitDefendant Win

Adams

Sep 12, 20065th CircuitRemanded

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Nexion Health at Broadway, Inc.

Sep 1, 20065th CircuitDefendant Win

Vistar

Sep 1, 20065th CircuitDefendant Win

Pacheco

Aug 25, 2006W.D. Tex.Defendant Win

State of Louisiana v. Union Oil Co of CA

Jul 31, 20065th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Agro Distributors, LLC

Jul 28, 2006S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

National Labor Relations Board v. Seaport Printing & AD Specialities Inc.

Jul 27, 20065th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union Local No. 4-2001 v. ExxonMobil Refining & Supply Co.

May 10, 20065th CircuitPlaintiff Win

Petrobras America v. Union Oil Co of CA

May 3, 20065th CircuitDefendant Win

Barksdale

Apr 19, 20065th CircuitDefendant Win

Ekuban

Apr 19, 20065th CircuitDefendant Win

Gonzalez

Apr 18, 2006W.D. Tex.Remanded

Belt

Apr 6, 20065th CircuitMixed Result

Hawkins

Mar 30, 2006W.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Berry

Mar 8, 2006N.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Milofsky

Mar 2, 20065th CircuitRemanded

IBEW

Mar 2, 20065th CircuitDefendant Win

Morris

Feb 23, 2006S.D. Tex.Defendant Win

Gaddis

Feb 23, 20065th CircuitDefendant Win

Roberts

Feb 23, 20065th CircuitDismissed

Todd

Dec 22, 20055th CircuitDefendant Win

Poulson

Dec 22, 2005E.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Teleservices Marketing Corp.

Dec 14, 2005E.D. Tex.Plaintiff Win

Beavers

Dec 8, 2005E.D. Tex.Dismissed

Turner

Nov 22, 20055th CircuitDismissed

Turner

Nov 22, 20055th CircuitDismissed

McNabney

Nov 9, 20055th CircuitDefendant Win

Harris Methodist Fort Worth v. Sales Support Services Inc. Employee Health Care Plan

Oct 6, 20055th CircuitRemanded

Haley

Sep 20, 2005S.D. Miss.Defendant Win

Moore

Sep 16, 2005E.D. Tex.Mixed Result

Browse Other Circuits

Explore employment rulings from the other federal circuits.

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These figures summarize publicly available published court opinions only. Published opinions over-represent summary-judgment rulings (decisions made without a trial) and appeals, because those are the stages where judges most often write formal opinions. Most workplace disputes settle privately and never appear here at all. A ruling’s outcome reflects many case-specific factors and is not a prediction for any other situation. Read more about how we source and classify rulings.

Data sourced from public federal court records via CourtListener.com. Case outcomes extracted using AI analysis. This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The classification of outcomes and case stages is based on automated analysis and may not reflect the full scope of each case.